


Screaming Color

by llamalark



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-02 15:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4065841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llamalark/pseuds/llamalark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The moment it happened she was more interested in the colors than the fact that she had just met her soulmate." The world is black and white before you meet your soulmate AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. fourteen

The moment it happened she was more interested in the colors than the fact that she had just met her soulmate. 

It took her by complete surprise. She was only fourteen after all; most people don’t meet their soulmates till they are much older or maybe never at all. That apparently wasn’t the case for Beatrice Duke. 

The black and white just faded away, and within seconds red, green, blue, yellow, and everything in between filled their places. It was all so vivid and enchanting that she almost forgot how to speak, which was a rare sight. 

“Bea, this is Ben.” Pedro introduced her to a scrawny boy with a mess of brown hair. She remembered how to smile thankfully. 

“Nice to meet you.” 

 

Of course she told Hero, and of course Hero freaked out. 

“You met your soulmate? Already? How romantic!” She flopped down on her bed, her chin in her hands, waiting expectantly for all the details. 

“Romantic? More like awkward. I could barely speak. I looked like a complete idiot! And aside from that, I’m fourteen. I don’t want to think about soulmates right now.” She sighed as Hero rubbed her back comfortingly.

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about soulmates, could you at least tell me if my outfit is color-coordinated or not? I don’t want to look unfashionable to all you color seeing people out there.”

Beatrice laughed, and all her uneasiness faded, just like the black and white. 

 

Beatrice was one of Pedro’s best friends. Pedro was one of Benedick’s best friends. 

They were bound to come in contact again even if it weren’t for the soulmate situation. 

At first it was awkward, at least it was for Beatrice. Benedick was a dork, but after a few meetings Beatrice realized that’s just who he was, and he wasn’t acting weird because of her. He acted like that around everyone, and the more she hung out with him the more she thought it was possible that she wasn’t his soulmate. 

It was definitely possible, though it didn’t happen often. Usually people were heartbroken when they discovered that their soulmate had another soulmate, but for some strange reason the thought brought Beatrice a bit of comfort. 

Enough comfort to stop ducking behind bushes every time she saw him walking in her direction. 

 

He was actually… cool. Like not real cool, he was probably the biggest nerd she had ever met if she was being honest, but she liked him anyway. 

He would actually banter with her and not just give up after a minute of arguing like all her other friends did. Maybe some of his arguments were silly, but what he said always interested her. She started gravitating toward him whenever everyone got together.

 

“Would you rather drink an entire jar of pickle juice or eat an entire tube of toothpaste?” 

“That’s an easy one.” Bea called from the deep end. They were at Ben’s house, out back in his pool. “Pickle juice. It actually doesn’t taste that awful, and eating that much tooth paste can’t be healthy for you.”

They had been hanging out for a month or so, but more recently they had been spending time without the rest of the group. In fact, they spent so much time together that the others had taken to calling them “partners in crime”.

It was fitting. 

He paddled his way over to her on a pool raft that he had claimed as his own, much to Bea’s protest. “No way! Pickle juice is the worst. I would definitely go with the toothpaste. Plus, my breath would be so minty fresh that I probably wouldn’t have to brush my teeth ever again.“ 

“Now that’s just gross, why would you even say that?” She made a gagging face before her eyes lit up with a new question. 

“Would you rather never brush your teeth again or be forced to brush them every ten minutes?” She smiled evilly. He splashed her. She flipped him over and reclaimed the raft. 

It was all in good fun though. 

 

They were eating ice cream together at a shop in town one day, just the two of them, when she asked herself if she was on a date or not. 

Of course not, she thought immediately. They hung out all the time and Ben had only paid for her ice cream because she forgot her wallet at home. 

Still, she had asked herself the question. It was the first spark of the fire.

 

She knew she had it bad when she started counting down the days.

She was always sad to leave Hero and all her friends each summer, but there was always the promise that she would be back next year.

She was dreading the thought of leaving Auckland now though. It ate at her insides and consumed all her thoughts. 

And it was all Ben’s fault. 

Why did he have to complicate things and make her have feelings for him? She was leaving in two weeks, and wasn’t coming back for another nine months. This definitely wasn’t an ideal time to let her feelings show. 

She was going to do it anyway though. 

She was going to tell him that she liked him and that maybe they should be together. Sure, they didn’t live in the same town, and they were fourteen, and she might not even be his soulmate, but whatever. She didn’t really care. 

They were sitting on his bedroom floor, playing cards, when he started spewing bullshit. 

“My cousins are staying an extra two days, which sucks. If I hear Olivia talk about her wonderful soulmate, Abigail, one more time I swear I’m going to die. It’s so gross.” He threw down two aces, and Beatrice was so distracted that she didn’t call bullshit. 

“Is it really that bad?”

“It’s the worst. It makes me not want to ever have a soulmate.” 

“Seriously?” She raised an eyebrow from behind her cards. 

“For sure. Most relationships don’t last anyways, even the ones between people are supposedly soulmates. It’s all a bunch of crap if you ask me. I don’t see why people waste their time.” 

“Yeah, I totally agree. Soulmates are so cliché and overrated. Relationships in general too.” She laid down her cards. “Three twos.”

“Bullshit.”

He was right. She only had two twos and she really thought they could have worked together.

Guess they just weren’t in the cards. 

 

She cried for him. Hero heard her in the middle of the night, even though she tried to stay quiet. She hated letting people see her cry. She hated crying about something as stupid as a boy. She hated that she felt the way she did. 

Tears streamed down her cheeks. They just couldn’t stop, not when she felt so blue. 

Who knew that you could feel colors too?


	2. seventeen

She was all red. Burning, passionate, angry, and destructive.

That is what Beatrice Duke was whenever she saw Benedick Hobbes.

The flame just grew and grew each summer until it was one massive, indistinguishable fire by the time that she was 17. 

Sure he was her soulmate, but it’s not like that really meant anything. The idea of having a soulmate was just a cliché that romanticized relationships, which, in reality, usually ended. 

While it may seem ironic, Beatrice was actually ecstatic that Benedick was her soulmate. She knew that she could never in a million years fall in love with him, so she didn’t have to worry about the disaster that is love happening, but she still got to see in color. It was a win-win situation if you asked her. 

Still, she tucked her soulmate secret away. 

 

She saw him again on the football pitch. The idiot tackled Claudio, Hero’s current crush. When he walked toward her she could see that his eyes were as blue as ever. Not that she cared. 

“Came to see me play did you now, Beatrice?” He raised his eyebrows at her. That smug bastard. 

“Like anyone could call that playing. You kicked the ball twice.” She rolled her eyes up toward the sky. 

“Um, excuse you, it was at least three times.” 

“Whatever, Ben.” She walked away with her arms crossed. 

“See you later, Blondie!” 

 

She thought that he might’ve had a soulmate. He wore a lot of bright colored clothing, instead of neutrals, which typically cost less. He’d always been a show off, so that wasn’t much of a surprise. The Blondie thing sealed the deal though. 

He kept calling her it too, which she hated. 

In a terrible twist of fate, she was stuck with him as her lab partner in physics for the rest of the year.  
“Hey, Blondie, what’s the answer to number five?” He leaned over to whisper to her. She ignored him, naturally. 

 

They were arguing over flamingos. Again. It was lunch and the group had defaulted to playing Would You Rather. 

“Flamingos are majestic creatures!” 

“I think that hideous the word you’re looking for. They have long, scrawny stick legs.” She rolled her eyes and took bit from her apple. 

“Their long legs add to their appeal.” He leaned back and stretched his own long legs out, invading her space bubble. How rude. 

“They can’t even fly. They’re so lame.” She shoved his legs away. 

“Flamingos so can fly! Check your facts!” 

“He’s right, Bea.” Hero smirked from behind her cousin. 

“You’re supposed to be on my side!” She turned to her, inflamed. 

“I’m on the side of logic.” She held up her hands all innocent. Ben laughed. 

“Whatever, my first point still stands and that’s far more than enough to prove that flamingos are the least majestic birds EVER.” 

If it had been just her and Hero she would have brought up that flamingos were pink, also known as the most unsightly color ever, as another point. And it eventually did come up while she was ranting to Hero about Ben one day… well everyday. 

 

“He’s a disgrace to all of humanity, which is saying a lot because we can be pretty sucky most of the time.” Beatrice ranted from the other side of the couch, definitely in too loud of a voice, but she could just blame it on the alcohol later. 

“He really can’t be that bad. I’m sure he has a certain charm to him.” The terrible excuse for a Batman crowed next to her. 

“Trust me, he doesn’t.” She took another sip from her cup. She was full of fire at this point. “He thinks he’s so cool, when in reality he’s nothing. He’s dead to me, just like all those birds he’s killed with his ridiculous Benmobile.”

Apparently that was enough for Ben. “He may not be cool, but you’re a bitch, Blondie.” Then he stormed off to the bathroom to do God knows what. 

She didn’t feel ashamed knowing that it was him she had been talking to, only angrier. 

 

“I could be your prince charming.” That was when she lost it. What a hilarious joke! Like her and Pedro could ever work. But when she didn’t hear him laughing along and looked up to see him looking away she realized it wasn’t a joke at all. 

“Oh, um well… We can just edit this out.”

“Oh no it’s cool.” He forced a laugh and waved her suggestion away like he wasn’t bothered at all. It didn’t work very well though judging by the awkward silence between them. 

“Is it because of Ben?” He asked cautiously. 

“What?” Her head snapped up, her eyes were wide. Where did that even come from? 

“Is the reason why you don’t want to date me because you’re Ben’s soulmate?”

“What?” Her voice cracked, she didn’t even try to hide it. “No, that’s not the reason. I didn’t even know that I was his soulmate.” She rushed out. It obviously wasn’t what Pedro wanted to hear. He looked down at his hands, suddenly fascinated with a hangnail. 

“Do a lot of people know?” She started again. 

“It’s not like the entire school knows, but a fair amount. He’s not really hiding it.”

“How did I not hear about this?” Her forehead furrowed out of confusion. 

“We were dying to tease you when you came up over the summer, but by then Hero had convinced us all that that would be impolite. I think everyone else at school is just too scared of you in general to mention it.” He guessed. 

“As they should be.”

 

Ben started acting weird around her, weirder than normal at least, and figured that Pedro must’ve told him about their conversation. What else could it be?

“Beatrice,” He said out of the blue one morning. “How do you feel about olives?” 

She laughed. She didn’t think that he could get anymore absurd, but apparently she was wrong for once. After a beat she realized that it was a serious question. He was looking at her with some sort of strange hope in his eyes. 

“I don’t like olives.” She coughed out. 

 

He wasn’t in love with her? She wouldn’t allow it! And even if he was, he couldn’t just go back and change his mind now. He made his choice back when they were fourteen and it wasn’t her. Sure they were soulmates, but it was in name only. A true soulmate would never abandon her like her did. 

He didn’t get to love her. He lost that privileged years ago. 

 

“He’s just so wonderful! I can’t believe he bought me flowers, and for no reason at all!” Hero inhaled the lovely bouquet of daisies. Hero and Claudio had been dating for hardly a month and were still in the blissful, yet blind, Honeymoon Stage. 

“That’s pretty nice.” Beatrice admitted. 

“He’s just so nice to me. I don’t think I’ve ever known someone so kind!” 

“I mean, we already established that he’s a Hufflepuff, so yeah.” Beatrice scribbled down a halfhearted answer to a stats problem. 

“Beatrice…” 

“Hmm?” Hero put a hand over Bea’s to stop her writing. She looked up. 

“I think I might be falling in love.” Hero blushed. 

“That’s wonderful.” Bea smiled the best she could. Not that she actually believed in soulmates, but Hero’s world was still black and white. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell us you could see color?” Ben flailed his pale arms around. His words were directed at Pedro. 

It was lunchtime and Pedro was the first one to the table. Ben had crept up on him just as he made a comment to himself about how the sky looked especially blue today. 

“I mean, it’s sorta private, man.” He chipped some of the green paint off the table. 

“I’m your best friend! I told you!” 

“Okay, well it’s my choice whether or not to tell people.” He looked him dead in the eye. “And you know I don’t appreciate you shouting about it like you do everything else.” He got up and walked away to eat his lunch somewhere else. 

It was then that Ben looked down, realizing his mistake. Bea was the only other person there at the time and they both agreed to keep Pedro’s secret till he was more comfortable. It was the mature thing to do after all. 

Once that was cleared up, however, things were incredibly awkward. Ben made a halfhearted comment about their history exam coming up and Bea just nodded in agreement. Thankfully, Hero and Meg showed up a couple minutes later and saved them both. 

 

Bad wasn’t a severe enough word to describe Hero’s sixteenth birthday. Horrifying or atrocious might be more accurate, but Beatrice wasn’t sure. 

To be honest she wasn’t sure of much anymore. Claudio had been so sweet to Hero. She’d honestly thought he was a decent guy. And Pedro? One of her oldest friends? Surly she should’ve known him better than this. He couldn’t have been this awful all along. 

God, did she truly know anybody?

“Shit. SHIT!” A muffled voice came from downstairs. She raced down the stairs ready to tell off whoever was lingering around when she saw Ben. He was on his knees, sopping up a large puddle of soda with some paper towels. 

He looked up at her. “Oh, hey.” He blushed, embarrassed to have been caught. “Sorry about the mess. I was trying to cleanup, but I sorta tripped and soda went flying everywhere. Don’t worry though; I got it. You can go back up to Hero.” 

She sighed. “We have a mop, you know?” She walked over to a closet and pulled out a mop, bucket, and large box of trash bags. 

“That would help, thanks.” He reached for it, but she pulled it back from him. 

“You don’t have to help cleanup. I’m the one who lives here, not you. Besides, shouldn’t you be with your best buddy Claudio?” 

Hurt flashed across his face. “No, of course not. Not after what he just did.” 

Beatrice was right: She didn’t know anyone because never before that night would she had believed that Benedick Hobbes was a decent person. 

 

He took her side. He drew a line in the sand and stood opposite from Pedro and Claudio, his best friends. He stood with the girl he swore he hated not two months ago. 

But why? Sure, come to find out he had morals and common sense, but there must’ve been more to it.

If it were just common sense then he wouldn’t have invited her over for dinner almost every night. Or listened to her long, murderous rants. Or bought a box of her favorite tea to keep at his house. Or even cared enough to ask her how she was in all of this mess. 

It had to be more than just him being kind and courteous. There had to be more than that between them. 

 

“You’re my soulmate.” He blurted out rather clumsily. It was the middle of a ramble about how she was wonderful and how he fit into everything that was happening with Hero. It accidentally came out, but he was so glad he said it. She was too. 

She looked up into his eyes. “I know.” She nodded slightly, smiling. 

“I figured that you heard, and I’ve been kinda rubbing the color thing in your face, but I’ve never told you. Like actually told you. I just figured that I should. Soulmates are an important thing, you know?”

“That’s not what you thought when we were fourteen.” She looked down.

“Well I was wrong, and I’ve changed my mind now.” He spoke firmly. The next part came out softer though. “Is that allowed?”

“Maybe, but what if you change your mind again?” 

“Never.” It was just one word, but it was fierce. He took her hand in his. “You’re my soulmate and there’s no changing that, but more importantly there’s no changing the way I feel about you. Beatrice, I’m in lo-” 

When she kissed him she wondered if it wasn’t when she was fourteen that she started seeing in color, but that very moment. He was a bit surprised at first, but he easily adjusted, threading his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer. It was messy, but strangely wonderful. She pulled away with a smile plastered on her face.

“You’re my soulmate too.” And he smiled at her like she had just given him the world. 

 

She couldn’t believe it. Team Love Gods? That was absolutely absurd! That couldn’t have actually happened! Yet, it had happened apparently. Their entire group of friends had set them up and they didn’t even realize it. 

Beatrice leaned her head on Ben’s shoulder as the video played on. Hero sat all smug on the other side of the room, typing out a tweet. 

“They literally don’t shut up about each other, ever. It’s awful.” Pedro rubbed his temples. 

“It’s weird though, because they are so similar. It’s sorta frightening actually.” Balthazar strummed his ukulele from his place on the floor. 

“That’s because they were made for each other. Beatrice is Benedick’s soulmate.” Meg sang, swaying back and forth. Ben smiled down at Beatrice. 

“And Benedick is Beatrice’s soulmate.” Claudio sang back. 

“Hero! You told everyone? You’re the worst!” Bea threw a pillow at her cousin, who dodged it, laughing.

“Well, you guys don’t know that for sure.” Hero’s voice filled the room via laptop speakers. 

“I never doubted you even for a second, my sweet cousin.” Bea said, snuggling back into Ben’s side. 

“Sure, Bea.” Hero laughed. “But if we’re being honest, I didn’t have to tell anyone because everyone could already see that you guys are perfect for each other.” 

Bea blushed and Ben kissed both her cheeks. 

 

“How did I miss that?” Ben pondered. “In hindsight, it seems so obvious that Pedro and Balthy had a thing for each other.” 

“Well, you aren’t the most observant person to ever walk the planet.” Bea commented next him in the bath. It was a slightly bigger than Ben’s so she was thankful for that, but still pretty uncomfortable. 

“I would deny that if I hadn’t already heard it tonight from John.” 

Beatrice laughed, snuggling closer to him. “So do you think they’re soulmates?” 

“I would bet a million dollars that they are.” He laced his fingers through hers and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They settled into a rare silence. Ben rubbed his thumb back and forth along her hand and her eyes slipped closed. 

She was so happy when she was with him. Why did she fight this for so long? 

Ben broke the quiet: “Since we’re on the subject of soulmates, I totally knew that I was your soulmate before you told me.” 

“Did not!” She flicked his shoulder. 

“Did too.” He moved to catch her hand, but she was too quick. “They day we met you were speechless and you could hardly look at me! You were looking everywhere else instead.” 

“It was a lot to handle.” She defended herself. 

“I am pretty swoon-worthy.” He sighed. 

“Sure, just keep telling yourself that, Ben.”

“Thanks Blondie, I will.” He smirked at her and she hated it so much that she had to kiss it right off his face. He annoyed her so much, he had for years, and she didn’t think that would ever change. Strangely enough though, it sort of made her love him even more. 

That must be what soulmates and true love is all about: loving someone in spite of their faults. You know that they’re worth it because in the end your world is so much more colorful with them in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my first NMTD fanfic!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'll post the second, and last, chapter soon!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Throw Me A Lifeline, Open The Door](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7788124) by [ratherbefree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratherbefree/pseuds/ratherbefree)




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